and. this is why you should care only on the. top diplomats from the united states and russia meet in a bid to salvage syrian peace talks even as rebel forces turn their fire on each other in an unprecedented turf war. pulling no punches the u.k. looks to claw back some control over its legal system as a european court denies british judges the right to sentence criminals to life without parole. and pay up or move out low income americans bear the brunt of washington's overspending as automatic budget cuts for some out of their homes by the million.

watching r t international lifelong moscow headquarters islands in france thanks for joining me now a seven hundred syrian rebels have been killed in the past nine days in clashes not with the regime but with other opposition fighters extreme islamists and moderates have turned on each other in what's become a savage turf war meanwhile chances of success at an upcoming peace conference are dimming by the day with less than ten days left before the geneva two conference is scheduled to take place hopes for proper peace talks just like the stakes are high and there's no other solution for the syrian tragedy than a political solution but just when it seemed reports of atrocities carried out by al-qaeda linked rebels said bush the worst away from the rhetoric. we don't have the assad regime on one side and terrorists on the other it is the regime that is fueling terrorism. mixed signals are once again being sent statements which some experts claim and are contradicting the facts on the ground

these are cynical statements the western military alliance has been recruiting right from the outset and it's confirmed by numerous. reliable sources nevertheless it seems any anti assad words are music to the ears of the syrian opposition whose main precondition has been and still is for him to step down. the most important aspect of today's meeting is that we all agree that al assad has no future in syria there saad family has no future in syria this is despite even the former head of the cia and the ex u.s. ambassador to syria iraq and afghanistan admitting that as soon as it's gone jihadists will quickly take his place with the clock ticking and she needed to be coming closer it's still on knowing whether the syrian opposition will be taking part but what is clear though right now with all these mixed messages coming out of france perhaps the chances of its success are slipping even further you got pissed

off r.t. paris. in a few hours time u.s. secretary of state john kerry and russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov will be joining will be giving a joint press conference after their meeting in paris say with r.t. to hear their latest plan for bringing peace to syria. meanwhile john kerry says he's confident that the rebel council will attend the peace talks despite its apparent reluctance but journalist john white believes that this will have little impact on the ground. it seems clear the same see very little credibility on the ground it can deliver nothing on the ground all the rebel factions or what are socially people. see or most of them and we have the fake teeth to other groups so all the us administration is increasingly desperate to try and cobble together some kind of syrian opposition and they can do business with but the syrian opposition

itself the city national council no really only exists say of syria and it only exists. us patronage so this is increasingly it seems like a feel process that is about to hit the buffer. the opposition government in exile is now warning that northern syria which is largely largely held by rebel groups is in a state of anarchy the syrian national council has little authority over fighters there and it's seen what influence it does have passed over to islamists john white also told us that for western governments time is running out many of these schools actually saving with assad because if you look at the situation on the ground is it growing increasingly desperate sunni fundamentalists pulling into the country causing mayhem who are intent on harming the country into a killing field so assad for all those people is the west of all evil at least with the assad government we have

a government and key to the twenty first century the alternative is a regime is to keep it somewhere in the seventh century i don't think there's much to discuss for the mistakes of the hide as the syrian war drags on is reaping the benefits in today's cross talk we hear how the terrorist network has managed to gain so much ground and who might be behind it. but one of the western media and politicians told us it was defeated or at the very least on its last legs the same media and politicians today tell us a very different story al qaeda is very much alive and fighting indeed across many countries of the middle east al qaeda is portrayed as a deadly minutes in this edition of crossfire we asked what is al qaeda today who supports it and who benefits from it.

britain is struggling to claim back control over a part of its legal system from the e.u. the u.k. government insists it has the right to sentence the worst criminals to life in prison with no chance of parole but as laura smith reports from london a top european court says that practice runs roughshod over human rights setting up a legal showdown. if we're talking prison sentences it's already very breath a knife to me in life but if the european court of human rights has its way it will become impossible because in this country the hands down the most severe punishment that exceptional criminal might never become eligible for parole condemned to die in jail the a c.-h. all got involved after convicted killers lodged a complaint with the courts saying it was deemed moralizing not to have a chance of release last year the courts the greens. having no rights to review

contravene the european convention on human rights the justice secretary is set to fight the decision in a lengthy legal battle but many say he should go a step further and leave the court altogether the legitimacy is pretty much nonexistent. but not a proper court made up of. often of politicians lawyers many of. members a tiny countries or countries with. very poor human rights record i mean we're getting a lot of interference in our british legal system. from them and i think it's completely completely unreasonable i think we should make our own decisions aren't arrangements about the but sentencing vera fewer than fifty prisoners being told. this in england and wales for the severest cry is one of the bridges he was sent down last year for murdering schoolgirl who he's launched an appeal i know the

killer ian mclachlan has already avoided a whole life because of the. he murdered a man while on day release from a murder that said meanwhile the u.k. government is entering into a little expensive fight with the pig course of human rights to stop the courts interfering with british justice. a date has been set for iran to start reducing its uranium stockpiles but while the country looks forward to easing of sanctions the us senate is raising the prospect of new obstacles we'll be reporting on that later in the program. also on its way ariel sharon is put to rest israel's defense force rolls out hundreds of soldiers and an anti-missile defense system just to provide a safe burial for the former prime minister. well pensioners and low income americans are being forced to find smaller and cheaper homes or see their rental

costs soar the second year of automatic budget cuts known as the quest ration could hit over two million households artie's more than a quarter met one of the victims of washington's overspending. my brother and his family inside and brown's home this is home for me a lifetime of memories are displayed everywhere you look one of my friends went in with me doing this in eighty three year old has lived in her one bedroom new york city apartment for thirty seven years this is the first played out for mercy from h.p. but it's a few months ago city officials told her she has to downsize her options move into a studio apartment or see your seven hundred dollar rent triple the only thing i know is they heard the word sequester whatever that means they have this thing is the city agency that subsidizes rent for low income new yorkers is facing a thirty six million dollars reduction due to budget cuts known as sequestration.

as a result thousands of seniors like ann are being forced to shrink their lives into smaller and cheaper apartments and that physically able. to a will or i'm going to do it my friend if you're sitting on a sidewalk i can't afford to stuart so what i'm going to do with my life and this is in this disappointment civil rights attorney norman siegel who represents many sequestered seniors calls the downsizing campaign inhumane i can't dismiss the possibility that the effect of this will impact disproportionately on seniors and poor people because in the bigger picture the people who are in power and make these decisions. know that seniors might not fight back and it's a problem playing out nationwide potentially affecting more than two million low income american households in the coming year that's according to one washington budget think tank but it's when social cuts drag in the nation's unprotected

pension nears that experts say the effects will prove explosive what happens to a family watching the government of the country stick it to grandma when she's eighty years old you're making enemies you wonder why people join the tea party you wonder why people join occupy wall street while many times the reasons are grandma in the current era of budget cuts the country's elderly most in need of government assistance and stability are being displaced vulnerable citizens forced to spend their golden years suffering the consequences of washington's debt and overspending is like putting somebody in prison that didn't commit a crime that's the way i see it what did we do because this deficit and why are you going to balance it on the fact that the seniors marina port naya new york. germany is bringing islam into the fold its official status in some provinces

making. easier for muslims to access services but critics say it's just an attempt to score political points that stories coming up after the break. choose your language. killing the killer though in federal prison officials some. choose to skip consents to. choose the opinions that invigorating to. choose the stories that in the months choose to access to often.

the media leave us so we leave the media. by the sea pushing securely play your party years ago. for shoes that no one is asking with the guests that you deserve answers from solong politicking only on our t.v. . january the twentieth has been set as the official start date for iran six month plan to scale back its nuclear program and exchange world powers have agreed to give the iranian economy some breathing space easing crushing sanctions but despite some progress on the deal so far the u.s. senate is already considering new penalties against iran if it fails to follow through on its pledge as president obama however has promised to brief veto the bill should it be passed he warned that such an approach could derail the historic

diplomatic breakthrough with tehran reached in november geo political analyst patrick henningsen thinks it's in the interest of many countries for toronto to be reintegrated into the global economy. the fact of the matter is the reason there's this detente with iran there's two we've got two factions we've got the the military probe or israeli factions one side that could never have peace with iran no matter what and then you have the fact that the world the west and the world needs iran they need to liquidity from petrochemical exports they need trade there's a stack of global stagnation economically right now and opening up i ran into the world trading theater is going to do a lot to increase trade and obviously move money around the world and goods and services back and forth at a time when it's much needed so there's two two camps here battling it out one to keep iran closed and other camps who would like to see iran open for trade. a

company in the u.s. has stopped lending out guns and found its customers were turning to firearms themselves in creasing numbers find out what the owner has to say on r t dot com. also there the russian government goes online to ask citizens for their ideas and criticism as it puts together a new strategy for cyber security get the details on our website. the israelis are saying their last farewells to former prime minister ariel sharon after his body lied in state in the parliament building in jerusalem meanwhile the israeli army is taking extreme precautions to guard the upcoming funeral moving in hundreds of troops to prevent a possible destruction from gaza archies palace lawyer has more. the former israeli prime minister ariel sharon is being very good later today at his ranch in the south of israel perhaps more than any other is really figure he is loved and reviled in equal measure the iron dome anti-missile system has been activated over

the south of the country because his house is in the vicinity of rock could range from gaza and of course israeli security establishment are concerned that her mass and other militants might try to fire rockets to disrupt the attention of the funeral and the arrival of world leaders to pay their last respects when it was announced of the weekend that sharon had died there were celebrations in gaza where sweets were handed out and posters of him were burnt sharon always justified his actions saying that they were for security but he leaves behind a very insecure and vulnerable jewish state at the same time he is regarded as the father of the settler movement but his project to forcibly remove eight thousand jewish settlers from gaza ended with them feeling betrayed and extremely angry today they are more than half a million citizens who live in the west bank and they vow that that will not be repeated they say that today in some area which is how they refer to the

settlements in the west bank will continue they are still many who are. angry because of. the girls rupe and because of the threats of the imminent. leg these would be. in the suburbs and this is something will still remain are as part of his. at the end of last week tel aviv published plans to build one thousand four hundred housing units in jewish settlements in east jerusalem and the west bank the palestinian chief negotiator saeb erekat said that this is a slap in the face of the u.s. secretary of state john kerry's attempts to negotiate a successful middle east peace plan policia r.t. tel aviv. let's take a look now at some other world news in brief at least eleven police officers have

been injured and up to forty people arrested in protest spreading across northern spain rioters attacked police cars smashed windows and barricades demanding the release of those detained in previous demonstrations what started on friday as a peaceful rally against the road league zani plan escalated into violent clashes and riot forces were brought in the. crowds of protesters are descending on central bangkok in an attempt to shut down the thai capital they accuse the prime minister of being a proxy for his brother the former leader who now lives in exile and are demanding his resignation officials have sent eighteen thousand police and soldiers into the city to prevent anti-government protests demonstrators from blocking off a major highway. hundreds of people are campaigning in berlin to save a historic airfield which the local authorities plan to turn into a housing estate with thousands of apartments it world war two era facility is currently used as a recreational zone demonstrators brought candles glow sticks and even play with

russians an item that's become a humorous symbol of anti-government rallies across germany. muslims across germany are looking forward to easier times ahead as islamic communities are given additional rights in several regions this puts their religion on an equal footing with judaism and christianity when it comes to dealing with the state as as peter all reports from the move has come in for some strong criticism. the change of status allows worshippers to have their religious holidays officially recognized burial rites carried out and classes taught in schools. but what does it mean to the islamic community in this part of germany to have their religion officially recognized by the state. perhaps in the future it will help the building of a mosque or a school it will also help to bring communities together over the last ten years both sides have made efforts to build bridges and aid integration and they don't

mind critics of the move claim this is being done to score political points here by hundreds as you can interpret this as a slam of the cation of germany but i see it as more politically motivated politicians telling muslims islam can belong but the majority of germans don't want this. only nineteen percent of germans believe that islam is compatible with german culture that's the lowest in europe thirty percent had specific concerns such as terrorism and almost half thought there are too many muslims in germany only around five percent of people in the country are muslims giving leave to the idea that the real issue for germans may be immigration not islam and i think it is more a question of getting people in big numbers into germany than having a problem with the. they mix it up and they don't recognize it's a different story islamic leaders recognize that they have work to do to improve

the image of their religion. we have a duty to change perceptions and prejudices unfortunately the media plays a big role they only show negative stories about muslims this makes it harder for us. whatever the public perception of islam in germany more and more federal states are set to follow suit and grant germany's almost four million muslims the same rights as the christian and jewish communities peter all over germany. next up the highlights from the world of sports with the lovely. i think that the fact that these weapons can fly semi autonomous lead for seven thousand miles to you know the locations where unfortunately my military and the cia are attacking people in countries with which we are not at war to me is

simply horrifying and as many you know already argue it's a violation of international law it's assassination i do not support assassination by my government period. fully under full for a moment like the bank of new knowledge face i've been trying to evoke. pleasure to have you with us here on our t.v. today i'm researcher.

hello welcome to the r.t. sports show another weekly roundup of top action from russia and around the globe with me take partridge and these are the headlines. trading places for what says still that case suki home that is unveiled at milan agent mcgeady leave spots not for everton in the first they the russian top flight deals in the transfer window. while top challenge novak djokovic and victoria. zoran go all out to defend their australian open titles as the first grandson of the season gets underway now but. a little bit journey with a months to go until the winter games marathon run out dimitri get off and you can see a seventeen hundred kilometer run for must go to sochi in time for the opening ceremony . all the news ahead of the winter olympics to come but first football where two

big name foreigners have left the russian premier league and the first high profile deals of the january transfer window first republic of ireland wingnut aiden mcgeady has signed for english premier league side everton from spawn's at moscow for an undisclosed fee the twenty seven year old has penned a four and a half year contract after scoring the thirteen goals in one thousand three matches for the red and whites since joining from celtic in two thousand and ten. and in italy for my test almost the midfielder ok so you keep on that promise to fight like a samurai off to the japan star joint ac milan as a free agent on the three and a half year deal the twenty seven year old will dawn the number ten jersey previously worn by the likes of root bullets and clarence seedorf. enable me to some right. for. i don't know that is true. i've seen the japanese moon.

stroom interview and return good to the supreme. for me while sticking to the plan was faces approach last week after football's governing body played down a top official statement about moving the twenty twenty two world cup in qatar to the winter drive out has claimed the flagship tournament will not be played in june and july because of searing temperatures in the gulf states but fifa swiftly added a decision on timing has not yet been taken while president sepp blatter also defended brazil's preparations for this summer's event despite failing to meet their deadlines reveal be ready i am sure that in in march all the stadium be ready and we have time enough to make some rehearsal stare in these modern stadia i'm sure they will respond to the expectation of display

dateless but also of the actors which are the players moving on to basketball where russian side looking what if cabana lost their second straight top sixteen game in the maiden season in the euro league the present all side travel to israel for the group that encounter what went down eighty five points to seventy five maccabi tel aviv we could cameroonian center suffocates spots only to sign twenty two points during his fifteen minutes on court as former russia coach david plotz did the home side to their six straight nearly victory and third win this season overlocker t.v. will travel to istanbul next week to play faletau serang. staying with a top sixteen where tesco moscow made it two wins from two off to a convincing seventy seven points to sixty two win at home to lithuanian side gel get this in a match up which in soviet history and richer than portly reports. it was and still

is one of the great rivalries in european basketball says come moscow versus shall greece well the club from if you were in your second city dominated in the one nine hundred eighty s. it's beyond him and have enjoyed more success than of the last decade bushong grist won the year only title in one thousand nine hundred nine they've since told him how to tynes and experience financial troubles but they're not looking to bounce back with a mix of belief you when you invent trends max out and yes it came because and robert has yet to talk us as well as some emerging talents under the guidance of forty year old former national hero sali a stronger us group f. meeting would say the sky was the second game for both sides in the euro league's top sixteen or shall going to suffer a disappointing eighteen point loss at home to buy in munich the army men had won their first game at the russian side. with a tory messina's side targeting their first you're really title since two thousand

and eight and they got off to a fantastic starts racing into a twelve three lead and this has never managed to recover despite a brief comeback in the third quarter that sold the league below double digits for the first time since the very start of the game but say it's covered by strong performances from sunday wins the tally for and so on i mean last year dos each stepped up again and eventually eased to seventy seven points to six to victory. to get the good start but during the second quarter is a good little zick i believe come back to six points and. start again the well against their performance and third quarter was for us in the game was a was done but with this team you cannot really make a lot of three point shots and this is this is their hope to change the game. and we have you know really really good team really good talented team from top to bottom so we know we're at our best we're playing you know team. well you know we

have you know everybody on the carcass every day as i was and i you know everybody came out of the court and sure we played well. from start by saying true and i mean the top sixteen was shall grease a router to the bottom of the group but to strain loss is not a great start for a club that's one of the oldest and we're really good aiming to regain those former glories revival fleet anti moscow. well meanwhile former n.b.a. star dennis rodman sang happy birthday to north korean leader kim jong un before leading a squad of former n.b.a. players in a friendly game against north korea's team in pyongyang the hall of famer dedicated the game to his best friend kim who turns thirty one on january the thirtieth is that a rodman has become a p.r. tool for north korea's government fourteen thousand people one day to my just north stars forty seven words to the tune on and off the tunes were mixed up for this.